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A lot of this is on us (the consumers). If they put produce on the shelves that isn’t perfect, we don’t buy it. So, it gets wasted. Either
- at the farm before it is loaded onto a truck,
- at the warehouse before it is sent to store,
- at the dock before it is put on display,
- by the customer, who will pick the ‘nicer’ fruit/vegetable from the pile.
We can’t entirely blame the supermarkets for this, though they absolutely deserve some of the blame. Having the ability to buy an apple with a bruise on it for a fraction of the price of the perfect apple is both good for the environment and a way to help address the rising cost of living.
Not sure they’d go for it, as they care more about the loss of the sale of that perfect apple than they do about the food waste.
it’s been a weird chicken/egg situation. When I was a kid, weird shaped veggies were nbd, shit came out of the dirt, what did you expect.
Meanwhile hubs (7 years younger) freaks at a two legged carrot because he’s never seen produce that wasn’t standardised to a catalogue.
A lot of this is on us (the consumers). If they put produce on the shelves that isn’t perfect, we don’t buy it.
To a certain extent, yes. But the sociological phenomenon it has morphed into is being reinforced significantly by supermarkets limiting the types of produce we see on shelves. Where do our ideas of what a banana should look like come from? Very few people live on farms or are buying from farmer’s markets, so their main exposure to produce throughout their life is through the supermarket shelf. You say “produce…that isn’t perfect” but who is determining what perfect looks like? I would argue it’s not the individual who is consciously making the determination that a large banana isn’t perfect. The expected norm is that a banana should be smaller and that heavily influences the individual’s resulting behaviour to the extent that they cannot be blamed in a way that would actually solve this problem. We need to change society’s values as a whole, and that requires large-scale change at the level of something like supermarket regulation.
Personally I don’t much care how it looks. In fact with bananas and apples in particular, I find the more “perfect” examples are often the least flavourful.
But I will avoid bruised product. If there are noticeable soft spots, it’s staying on the shelf.
Of course you will. You are looking at two items, both costing the same price ($x/kg). One is in fantastic condition and one looks less-than-fantastic.
It’s just human nature that you’ll take the pristine product. Why on earth would you pay the same amount for an inferior product?
Right but my point was that for me it’s not just one that looks less-than-fantastic. It’s one that might even look better but actually is inferior. Bruises in fruit & veggies actually affect the flavour/texture of the food.
Woolies did do a good thing by bagging up the less perfect looking fruit/veggies and selling that separately cheaper. I’m assuming Coles does the same.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen an “odd bunch” veggie that i wouldn’t be happy to pick off the shelf, but I’ve seen plenty on the shelf I wouldn’t pick
they seem more like weird shaped veggies than minor damage. and nit a whole lot cheaper either
A lot of independent grocers also do the same. There are a few fruits and vegetables (tomato, pear, apple, zucchini, capsicum, cucumber, eggplant, avocado, onion) that I often buy like this. Always considerably cheaper per kilo than buying them loose (unless the equivalent was on special), though sometimes the quality isn’t as good.
Yeah, same at the market. At the end of the market day they’ll wrap everything up that’s left and sell it by the kilo.
Mr Banducci denied the company engaged in food dumping, saying its reject rate is about “1 to 1.5 per cent”.
“We reject very little when it comes into our business, that doesn’t mean that it’s not rejected before it gets to our business if you know what I mean, I think there’s an opportunity there,” Mr Banducci said.
“I think we already acknowledge that food waste at farm…”
Food waste is happening at the farm because you have extreme standards that your growers are required to meet:
"There are some aesthetic, there’s a banana that can be too big.
“A lot of people who eat bananas are children and younger people who don’t want something that’s around this big,” Mr Harker said as he gestured about 30 centimetres with his hands.
“They want something that’s reasonable to consume in a sitting as opposed to it contributing to food waste at home by only being able to eat half of it.”
These people are so full of shit. This is going to end up like the “wE dOn’T pRiCe GoUgE” claim - you will be exposed eventually.
No wonder I can’t find any big bananas at supermarkets anymore
Every major grocery store produces tons of food waste per day. The end of day throwaway from bakery and the reams of produce trimmings to keep the produce department looking perfect all add up.
Coles must be loving this dude, he can’t stop shooting himself in the foot forcing all the eyes on him and woolies, while Coles does the same shit.
I hope they never stop using that picture of the time this idiot turned up wearing the shop uniform. Him and his PR advisors should never live it down 😆
I nearly pissed myself laughing when I saw that + the walkout. I doubt he’s even worked in a woolies before
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Banducci is set to retire from the Woolworths Group in September 2024. The announcement occurred days after Banducci made national headlines for walking out of an interview with the ABC’s four corners as part of their investigation into price gouging by major supermarkets in Australia.[3]
I think at this point he’s a dead man walking. They’re keeping him until the whole wave of criticism of the supermarkets duopoly has as abated, then they’ll dump him and say “look, we took action”.
All you have to do is get someone in woolies to write down something he doesn’t want people to know he said and he’ll quit on the spot!
Woolworths, ‘The Fresh Food People’ admit to selling food that isn’t fresh to consumers.
Weird anectode, we used to have 50 acres behind Coffs Harbour (48 acres of bush), when we had excess we’d sell some to the local organic wholesaler. She inisited it was perfect or customers wouldn’t buy it. I was kind of bemused because the only way it’s getting that way in any volume is pesticides.
Another anecdote, we had all sorts of different fruit but they onky wanted the same fruit you get supermarkets, as that was all that sold (apple, bananas, mandarins and oranges…we only had the latter two)
You lived in Coffs… and didn’t have bananas?! Outrageous
They didn’t feel they could compete with the big one.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
Woolworths boss Brad Banducci has defended the amount of food the supermarket giant rejects with a top executive saying no one wants a banana that is “too big”, a South Australian parliamentary inquiry has heard.
The state select committee investigating grocery prices is one of several inquiries currently underway across the country, including one being led by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
Committee chair Robert Simms grilled Mr Banducci and Woolworths chief commercial officer Paul Harker on Tuesday about food waste, mark-ups from suppliers and increasing prices amid cost-of-living pressures.
His response followed Australian Bureau of Statistics data that revealed Adelaide had the biggest grocery price increase in the country at 16.4 per cent between 2021 and 2023.
Last month, SA’s vegetable industry association AUSVEG told the committee there has been an average 300 per cent mark up between farm gate price and what the consumer pays.
Mr Harker said Woolworths does not engage in the practice of flooding the market, where producers are pressured to grow more than needed, in turn lowering their sale prices.
The original article contains 687 words, the summary contains 178 words. Saved 74%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
